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August 2025

Lived Broadband Policy: Experiencing the Affordable Connectivity Program

Public policy analysis overwhelmingly hews toward the quantitative. In the context of broadband policy research, quantitative data gleaned from surveys and other sources can illuminate how connectivity initiatives like the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) perform based on standardized metrics like enrollment counts, fund distribution, and the speed of broadband connections. However, these standardized metrics tell us little about how these initiatives affect the daily life of the very people enrolled in and often dependent on government subsidies for basic internet service.

Analysis

Lived Broadband Policy: Experiencing the Affordable Connectivity Program

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Digging into the biggest broadband barriers in the Bronx

As states and cities across the US seek to close their digital divides, getting a closer look at where and why the problem is particularly persistent is key to finding the right solutions. In New York City, the greatest digital divide exists in the borough of the Bronx. The third-most densely populated county in the US, the Bronx is home to roughly 1.4 million people, as of the most recent census data.

California Surges Forward Building the Nation’s Largest Open-Access Middle-Mile Broadband Network

On August 12, California State and Tribal leaders gathered on Hoopa Valley Tribe ancestral lands to celebrate the construction of nearly 23 miles of high-capacity middle-mile broadband infrastructure along California State Route 96. These 23 miles are part of the larger 8,000+ mile network that will serve as the backbone for homes, schools, and other locations that are currently unserved to have reliable access to the internet. The Hoopa Valley Public Utilities District and the State entered into the first-ever Tribal-State middle-mile broadband joint-build agreement.

President Trump Reverses Big Tech and Broadband Oversight Order

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division welcomed President Donald Trump’s decision to revoke Executive Order 14036, a Biden-era directive with sweeping implications for technology and broadband policy. Issued by former President Joe Biden on July 9, 2021, Executive Order 14036 contained provisions urging the DOJ and Federal Trade Commission to apply stricter antitrust review to mergers in broadband, cable, and Big Tech, warning that consolidation often hurts consu

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